TV news reports and newspaper articles almost universally tell the same Chicken Little tale: real estate is dead and only an escapee from an insane asylum would dare invest in real estate in the next two years or so. I couldn’t agree more.
If you’re a novice investor and you’ve identified real estate as a possible investment opportunity AND you dive in without a proven system, a solid mentor and guidance that can help guide you through the minefield that is today’s real estate market AND you overpay for a property, the news reports are accurate.
At the same time, if you’re a smart investor you’d never dream of investing in any commodity without knowing ahead of time that you could turn a tidy profit at some future point in time. To do otherwise would be akin to diving headlong out of a perfectly good airplane with an equally good parachute still on the seat. If you do your homework, the next two years or so could be the foundation for what could very easily become a multimillion dollar investing portfolio. However, the ball’s in your court.
There’s no doubt that a declining real estate market presents some very specific challenges – and unique opportunities. How you approach investing will determine whether you look back on this period with sad-eyed regret or starry-eyed wonder.
Make no mistake about it. I’m in no way insinuating that real estate investing in the next two years will be completely hassle free. However, If you follow a system and use sound investing strategies and do your homework you can still purchase property for as little as fifty cents on the dollar. Even after factoring in repairs, you should be able to build instant equity and have a property that will provide you with a positive monthly cash flow.
If you closely police your costs and make certain that you only buy property that can produce an ongoing residual monthly income it really doesn’t matter if the market continues to fall – even if it falls to the extent that it temporarily sucks all of the equity out of your property. Read that last sentence again. It really doesn’t matter because real estate will rebound at some point and it’s not likely to take all of your equity, if you’re in the right markets. The more property you control when the market comes out of its freefall the greater your potential for runaway profits.
As the market goes through this challenging period you’ll see opportunities present themselves that a rising market doesn’t have. When the market is rising and interest rates are low the demand for quality rentals tends to fall because more people are interested in buying houses of their own. A constricted, declining market tends to put pressure on the rental real estate market – which means opportunities abound for increased rental rates – which means that positive cash flow can grow even more!
By using common investing sense you’ll wake up one glorious day and realize that the market has warmed and prices will once again begin heading north. Then the positive cash flow that you will have enjoyed to that point will seem inconsequential compared to the quick strides the value of your portfolio will be making at that point in time!
So hang in there, use your head, and snap up all the property you can get your hands on. It will be worth it in the long run. The payoff isn’t that far in the future. To make it happen you have to Take Action!
Should I change realtors, we have had our house on the market since Aug.08, now Jan. 09 and not one person has come through, very frustrated.
Betsy,
Only you can answer that question but here are some things to consider:
What do you have the house listed for? Are you being realistic? Start there and then move forward.
Now, as for the agent…what kind of marketing are they doing for you? Most agents feel they don’t need to spend any money and won’t truly work a listing. They expect to list the home and then hope for another agent to bring a buyer.
Here’s the rub, there are buyers out there. if you are priced right it should move.
Give us some more infomation to go on before we go as far as saying to dump the realtor. Although that may be the sentence, let’s not pronounce judgment without more facts.